RFID tags spy on bartenders
RFID tags spy on bartenders
Do you know how much money is lost in annual sales of liquors in the US? Capton, a provider of liquor-monitoring technology, estimates that $7 billion is lost from bartenders. The RFID Journal reports that the company has developed the Beverage Tracker system currently tested at a Las Vegas Hotel-Casino which uses tags to keep tabs on liquor. The system, which consists of RFID-enabled liquor spouts, an RFID reader and proprietary software, costs between $10,000 and $20,000, but can save $90,000 per year for an average bar. This might be true, but how many bartenders will lose their jobs because of this system by offering free drinks? Read more…
Here is the opening paragraph of the RFID Journal article.
Treasure Island, a Las Vegas hotel and casino, has installed a system utilizing RFID to track the amount and type of liquor its bartenders pour. The system has been in operation at two of the hotel’s bars for the past month and will soon be added to two more.
This Beverage Tracker software has been developed by Capton, a company based in San Francisco. And here is how the system works.
The Beverage Tracker consists of RFID-enabled liquor spouts, an RFID interrogator (reader) and software. The spouts contain a battery-powered 418 MHz RFID tag and a measuring device. Whenever a bartender pours a drink, the tipping of the bottle turns on both the tag and the measuring device, allowing the spout to measure the volume of liquor poured (in ounces) before the employee tips the bottle back up. The tag then transmits that information to the interrogator’s antenna, attached to the ceiling above the bar.